Over the years, vehicles have undergone major changes in both type and construction. Currently, crashes that use to leave vehicles on their wheels are now resulting in more rollovers that leave vehicles on their sides, roofs, or stacked in precarious positions. Passengers are being subjected to extreme bouncing and impact injuries particularly when not restrained by seat belts. Hence, the need for vehicle stabilization has never been greater.
A variety of vehicle stabilization systems and shoring devices are know in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,776,383, issued Aug. 17, 2004 to Lanka discloses a vehicle bracing apparatus comprised of a main tube; an extension tube disposed in the main tube; and at least one first set of orifices in the main tube and at least one second set of orifices in the extension tube such that a fastener can retain the extension tube in a position relative to the main tube by a passing through aligned first and second sets of orifices. The vehicle bracing apparatus is further comprised of vehicle anchor or head removably connected to a top end of the extension tube and a footer removably connected to bottom end of the main tube.
In another example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,240,885, issued Jul. 10, 2007 to Sullivan discloses an emergency vehicle support kit comprised of a cylinder and two pistons attached to form a telescoping device. When assembled, the telescoping device attaches at one end to a vehicle support base plate by a swivel support base plate adapter and at another end to one of a plurality of attachments or heads.
In a further example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,705, issued Dec. 12, 2000 to Cudmore, et al. discloses a vehicle stabilization and support tool comprised of a cylinder and a movable piston that protrudes axially from the cylinder at a cylinder end. The cylinder end is formed with a pair of inclined circumferential surfaces. A collar extends axially from the cylinder and slideably receives the protruding piston. The collar is formed with a pair of internal annular step surfaces corresponding to the cylinder end surfaces. The collar step surfaces and the cylinder circumferential surfaces are engagable to permit rotation and simultaneous axial movement of the collar with respect to the cylinder. A pin is selectively positionable at one of a plurality of holes along the piston for engagement with the collar to prevent movement of the piston with respect to the collar. A locking system is provided for releasably securing the collar against rotation relative to the cylinder. In use, the piston is extended from the cylinder and the pin is inserted through one of the holes along the piston to define an initial extended position. The collar is then rotated to move axially into engagement with the pin and locked in place with respect to the cylinder to define a final fixed extended position of the tool.
The known prior art stabilization systems are known to be problematic in a number of areas which include being heavy and cumbersome to use; relatively weak thereby becoming disabled by, for example, a single blow; corrosive; and electrically conductive which is a concern with the increasing presence of hybrid gas electric vehicles.
Additionally, the prior art fails to recognize and address the problem of system failure due to side loading conditions of a stabilization system.
Accordingly, there is a need for a stabilization system that overcomes the significant shortcomings of the known prior-art.